Two scholars who study the developing world have begun semester-long appointments to the Kellogg Institute's widely recognized Visiting Fellows Program. Joining seven others already in residence, the new fellows, both political scientists, will conduct independent and collaborative research related to core Kellogg themes of democracy and human development.

  • Bumba Mukherjee, a former Kellogg faculty fellow now at Penn State University, returns to the Institute to collaborate with Faculty Fellow Alexandra Guisinger on a new book project. Aiming to explain when and why financial crises occur in developing countries under observation by IMF programs, they will evaluate the effect of such crises on political repression and the likelihood of military coups in developing states.

  • Matthew Singer of the University of Connecticut is a Latin Americanist who studies how voters seek to hold politicians accountable for their actions. His Kellogg project will explore whether Latin American citizens who feel well represented by government may also be particularly willing to delegate additional authority to political leaders, thus undermining democracy.

Mukherjee and Singer join the following scholars who hold academic-year appointments as visiting fellows:

  • Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra is exploring how the Old Testament shaped the culture of the global Spanish monarchy, impacting understandings of empire, gender, race, and religion.

  • Lina del Castillo is examining early republican Colombia and its development as a nation-state through a study of maps, mapping, and map production.

  • Fausto Hernández Trillo is looking at how the fiscal decentralization process in Mexico has impacted poverty at the municipal level.

  • Sandra Ley Gutiérrez is studying the impact of criminal violence on democratic citizenship in Mexico and collaborating with Faculty Fellow Guillermo Trejo on a series of papers on the institutional foundations of criminal violence.

  • James Loxton is working on a comparative study of conservative parties in Latin America and, with Faculty Fellow Scott Mainwaring, organizing the spring conference "Life after Dictatorship."

  • Thea Riofrancos is exploring contestation around resource extraction in Ecuador, with a focus on the democratic and developmental politics of oil and mineral dependency.

  • Robert D. Woodberry is writing a book about the global impact of Christian missions on mass education, printing, civil society, and colonial reform movements.

In addition, Fabiano Gomes, a legal scholar from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, has joined the Kellogg community as a guest scholar. He will be in residence until the end of February.

Contact: Denise Wright, Program Coordinator, dwright1@nd.edu or 574-631-8523